Brake Vans (narrow gauge)
Several '''narrow gauge brake vans' have been seen on the Mid Sodor and Skarloey Railways in Thomas & Friends. They are commonly referred to as guard's vans. These brake vans have ticket windows on both sides. They are mainly used to carry the guard or workmen, but on rare occasions when the coaches are full, the guard will allow the passengers to travel in the brake van. Talyllyn Railway's No.6 guard's van |last_appearance= |creator(s)= * Wilbert Awdry, Britt Allcroft & David Mitton * John T. Kenney * Robert Gauld-Galliers |country_of_origin = Island of Sodor |basis=Talyllyn Railway's No. 6 tool van |gauge= |vehicle=Rolling stock |type=Brake vans |wheels=4 |railway=* Skarloey Railway * Mid Sodor Railway }}These brake vans are commonly seen on the back of passenger, goods and maintence trains. They have been seen on the Mid Sodor and Skarloey Railways. In the television series, they serve as Sodor's main type of narrow gauge brake van. Biography ''The Railway Series'' Cora, a tool van, served as Stuart's guard van on the Mid Sodor Railway. Following the railway's closure, she was purchased by the Thin Controller. She was used as a guard's van whenever Beatrice was unavailable, though she eventually returned to her original use after Millicent's arrival in 1955The Railway Series: The Little Old Engine "Home at Last". ''Thomas & Friends'' Skarloey used one of these brake vans to transport a group of rescuers intending to find and find Duke, who had been trapped in his shed for many yearsSeries 4 "Granpuff". When Rheneas was travelling home with a full train in bad weather, the train was so full that the guard allowed passengers in his vanSeries 4 "Gallant Old Engine". Sir Topham and Lady Hatt once boarded Skarloey's brake van to the grand opening of Rumblin Bridge, after their hot air balloon ran out of fuel and crashed into a treeSeries 7 "The Grand Opening". When Duncan was asked to take an elephant statue to a Elephant Park, he and his driver carelessly left behind the brake van. He soon found himself running out of control and derailing at the parkSeries 7 "The Runaway Elephant". Personality Cora is the only known sentient brake van of this design in both the Railway Series. Cora the Tool Van: File:Cora.png|Cora in the Railway Series File:CoraRear.png|Rear of Cora Technical Details Basis These brake vans are based on the Talyllyn Railway's No.6 tool van. In the television series, they are have added ticket windows similar to the No.5 guard's van, however these ticket windows are added on both sides. File:CoraBasis.jpg|Talyllyn Railway's No.6 tool van Livery In the Railway Series, Cora is painted blue with the letters "SR" painted on her sides in white. In the television series, the brake vans have been painted in various colors, such as sky blue, red, brown and grey. Since the sixteenth series, only brown brake vans have appeared. File:NGBrakeVanBlue.png|A blue brake van File:NGBrakeVanRed.png|A red brake van File:NGBrakeVanGrey.png|A grey brake van File:MainNGBrakeVanCGI1.png|A brown brake van Trivia * In the Railway Series, Cora is the only van of this design. * Since the sixteenth series, the brake vans became slightly smaller. * All brake vans were run facing backwards, with the ticket windows facing away from the train/coaches until the eighteenth series when they were running the correct way. * A blue small scale model, a red small scale model and a grey large scale model of the narrow gauge brake van is in possession of Twitter user ThomasTankMerch. Merchandise * TrackMaster * Bachmann Talyllyn Railway's No.5 guard's van |last_appearance=The Christmas Tree Express |creator(s)=* Wilbert Awdry * C. Reginald Dalby * Nitrogen Studios |country_of_origin= Island of Sodor |basis=Talyllyn Railway's No. 5 guard's van |gauge= |vehicle=Rolling stock |type=Brake vans |wheels=4 |railway=* Skarloey Railway * Talyllyn Railway * Mid Sodor Railway }}These brake vans are narrow gauge brake vans. They have been seen on the Mid Sodor, Skarloey and Talyllyn Railways. Biography ''The Railway Series'' Beatrice is the original guard's van serving the Skarloey Railway. She is looked down by the coaches, and is often described as smelling of "fish and cheese"The Railway Series: Four Little Engines "Skarloey Remembers". Beatrice is, however, very useful. She has a ticket booth and an emergency buzzer and sometimes even carries passengers when the coaches are fullThe Railway Series: Gallant Old Engine "The Gallant Old Engine". ''Thomas & Friends'' These brake vans have been seen at the Blue Mountain Quarry behind trucks carrying stone and slate"Blue Mountain Mystery". Personality Beatrice is the only known sentient brake van of this design in both the Railway Series. Beatrice the Guard's Van: File:Beatrice.png|Beatrice in the Railway Series File:BeatriceillustratedbyCliveSpong.png|Other side of Beatrice Technical Details Basis These brake vans are based on the Talyllyn Railway's No. 5 guard's van. Due to legal restriction, the van only has a ticket window and a door on one side. File:BeatriceBasis.jpg|Talyllyn Railway's No. 5 guard's van File:BeatriceBasis2.png|The other side of the guard's van Livery In the Railway Series, Beatrice is painted entirely blue. In the television series, these brake vans are painted red and brown in the same livery as their real Talyllyn Railway counterpart. A Mid Sodor Railway brake van, of this design, was painted light blue. File:MidSodorRailwayBrakeVan2.png|A Mid Sodor Railway brake van Trivia * In the Railway Series illustrations, Beatrice is the only van of this design. * An OO9 scale model of this brake van was featured on Awdry's layout of the Mid Sodor Railway. The model was donated by Awdry and put on display at the Reverend Teddy Boston's Cadeby Light Railway in Cadeby, Leicestershire, before the railway finally closed in 2005 . Padarn Railway Brake Vans |last_appearance=Blue Mountain Mystery |creator(s)=Nitrogen Studios |country_of_origin = Island of Sodor |basis=Padarn Railway Brake Vans |gauge= |vehicle=Rolling stock |type=Brake vans |wheels=4 |railway=Skarloey Railway}}These brake vans are seen at the Blue Mountain Quarry. Biography ''Thomas & Friends'' One of these brake vans was seen on a standard gauge host truck, a special type of wagon used to carry narrow gauge rolling stock over standard gauge track. When the host truck is carrying a guard's van, it has often been used as the first or last wagon of a train"Blue Mountain Mystery". Technical Details Basis These brake vans are based on the ones used on the Padarn Railway, a slate carrying line. A real life example can be found at the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum at the Talyllyn Railway. File:TalyllynRailwayHostWagon.jpg|A brake van on a host wagon Livery The Padarn Railway brake van is painted dark red with light red frames. Mid Sodor Railway Brake Vans Island of Sodor |basis= |gauge= |vehicle=Rolling stock |type=Brake van |wheels=4 |railway=Mid Sodor Railway}}At least one of these brake vans were used on the Mid Sodor Railway in the Railway Series. The brake van was as part of the goods train nicknamed as "The Horse and Cart". Technical Details Basis The specific basis is currently unknown, the OO9 scale model was kit-built by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry for his the Mid Sodor Railway layout . Livery These vans were been painted light blue. Trivia * The model was put on display at the Reverend Teddy Boston's Cadeby Light Railway in Cadeby, Leicestershire, before the railway finally closed in 2005 . References Category:Skarloey Railway Category:Mid Sodor Railway Category:Narrow gauge Category:Rolling stock Category:Brake vans